March 2026 housing market forecast: Key factors impacting home buyers and sellers this month

A glacial betterment successful location affordability is occurring. While it tin beryllium statistically proven, it whitethorn not consciousness melodramatic capable to alteration galore buyers’ oregon sellers’ plans conscionable yet. Here is the lodging marketplace forecast for March 2026.

Jim Breeze, elder vice president of PNC Bank, expects March to beryllium akin to past year, and possibly "a small improved."

Last year, PNC saw a 47% summation successful owe applications from January to April, with the archetypal uptick opening successful March (up 38% compared to January 2025).

"That's truly emblematic for the owe manufacture successful totality," Breeze told Yahoo Finance. "November, December, and January thin to beryllium slower. Then you commencement getting into the clip framework erstwhile radical are reasoning astir really making that move. So they commencement looking to get acceptable for those summertime months."

Breeze noted that readying up is key. Talking to a owe advisor good earlier you're location hunting tin uncover imaginable affordability levers that tin beryllium pulled.

"There's a batch of down outgo assistance programs retired determination that radical whitethorn not cognize about. If they speech to somebody, that imagination of affordability mightiness person conscionable increased, due to the fact that present there's immoderate different mechanics that's going to assistance get you into that caller home," helium said.

Read more: Down outgo assistance: How it works and however to qualify

Home affordability is gradually increasing. A caller Zillow investigation recovered that affordability has improved by much than $30,000 from 1 twelvemonth ago, driven by rising incomes and falling owe rates. That means a median-income household tin present spend a $331,483 home. Zillow said that's the highest affordable terms since March 2022.

Here’s a person look astatine the factors impacting location affordability successful March.

Mortgage rates are dilatory becoming much favorable, falling to levels not seen since September 2022.

Mortgage rates began a dilatory descent downward successful mid-November. Now, much sources are reporting indebtedness rates nether 6%. Yahoo Finance's play survey of lender rates shows 30-year fixed rates arsenic debased arsenic 5.5% — rates were topping 7% a small much than 1 twelvemonth ago.

If rates stay calm successful March oregon crawl adjacent lower, acquisition and refinance enactment volition proceed to grow.

"The stabilization of owe rates adjacent 6% this outpouring marks a notable turning constituent where, for the archetypal clip since the post-pandemic spike, some the intelligence obstruction and the numerical threshold of the 5% scope person yet been reached," Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu said successful a release. "A little complaint could perchance bring much homeowners who were antecedently 'locked in' to yet participate backmost into the market."

Home terms maturation is slowing, with the lowest lodging marketplace appreciation since the betterment began pursuing the Great Recession, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index.

That tin beryllium a double-edged sword: Buyers invited the moderation of terms gains, but location sellers whitethorn instrumentality their listings disconnected the market, hoping for much favorable pricing conditions.

“2025 marked the extremity of an unprecedented play of terms growth,” said Thom Malone, main economist astatine Cotality. “Following a five-year tally of gains — including the 19% highest successful 2021 — maturation fell to a specified 1.3% successful 2025. The marketplace is present waiting for the broader system to drawback up."

Malone expects lone nominal terms maturation successful 2026.

Read more: This representation shows the median location terms by state

Nearly two-thirds of location buyers successful 2025 (62.2%) received a discount disconnected the database price. Redfin's investigation of MLS listings recovered the emblematic purchaser received a 7.9% terms chopped — the largest since 2012.

“Homebuyers successful 2026 shouldn’t constitute disconnected homes that are somewhat supra their fund due to the fact that there’s a bully accidental they’ll get immoderate benignant of concession from the seller, beryllium it a terms cut, wealth toward closing costs, oregon funds for repairs,” Redfin elder economist Asad Khan reported.

Redfin reported that done February 22, 2025, determination was a 5.1-month proviso of homes for sale. "4 to 5 months of proviso is considered balanced, with a little fig indicating seller’s marketplace conditions," Redfin noted.

However, Realtor.com's latest Housing Supply Gap Report recovered that caller operation could not support up with demand, and the location proviso spread widened by implicit 4 cardinal homes successful 2025.

“Even erstwhile yearly operation and household enactment are astir balanced, the marketplace is inactive digging retired from much than a decennary of underbuilding,” Danielle Hale, main economist astatine Realtor.com, said successful a release.

New listings are 80,595, down 2.8% year-over-year, according to Redfin.

Redfin reports that the median days connected the marketplace is 67, an summation of 8 days, and the longest successful astir 7 years.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says it is getting incrementally easier to suffice for a mortgage, based connected its recognition availability index. The measurement of recognition availability bottomed successful November 2023, and has been mostly expanding since — a motion of loosening credit.

“The opening of the twelvemonth is typically erstwhile lenders commencement to presumption themselves for the outpouring homebuying prime up, and caller dips successful owe rates person provided windows of refinance opportunities, including refinances into ARM loans," Joel Kan, MBA’s lawman main economist, said successful a report.